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Show Motherlunge a novel 143 22. Light Pollution in the Newborn Period How did we arrive at this state of affairs-Pavia gone, me alone with her child? Let's go back a bit. After Xavier's birth, Pavia had developed a case of postpartum pre-eclampsia and needed to, stay in the hospital for four days. Jack stayed too, in a little nest of flannel blankets he had made in the bedside armchair. Most of the time he sat there with X. tucked against his left forearm and bicep and with a look of proud expectation, inadvertently creating an awkwardness that limited visitors to a few short minutes each. "Aren't they...separated?" asked Pavia's assistant, Kathleen, in the hallway, hugging a teddy bear to her chest protectively when she spied Jack through the window of the door. "Unexpected," Cassandra commented on her way out. "But whatever." In the bed next to her husband and son, Pavia seemed to ride on an unsteady cushion of narcotics and edema. "I think my vagina is down by my knees," she said as she climbed back in bed after a trip to the bathroom. She touched her swollen face with her swollen fingers. "And my face fills the room." The nurses came and helped her with breastfeeding every few hours, kneading her and X. together in various positions while Pavia pursed her lips above her newly doubled chin. |
